The Varsity women’s tennis team has added another loss to their near-perfect record over the weekend. While losing twice in one season may not seem like much cause for concern, for a team that has won the OUA gold medal for three consecutive years, it can be considered a slight bump in the road. While the final four seeding is yet to be determined, the Blues will most likely be joined by the University of Montreal, McGill and a fourth challenger from the OUA.
Over the weekend, in their final tune up before the playoffs begin, the women’s team took on the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and McMaster. Playing conditions during Saturday’s matches were quite favorable, with excellent visibility and uncharacteristically mild wind. All in all, it seemed like the perfect setting for the women’s team to put a punctuation mark on their season. Having already defeated both teams over the past three seasons, the Blues knew what to expect from their opponents. Having said that, the end result must have been surprising to say the least. In losing to the UWO Mustangs, the lady Blues fought hard, winning two of their three doubles matches to gain one team point. Unfortunately, they were unable to carry that success over into singles play, where they won only two out of six in the course of the morning.
For the Blues, Natalia Lech continued her two-year winning streak, with one of her characteristically dominating performances. She has not lost a single set over that time, and is in rare form heading into the playoffs. Lech, often described by teamates as shy off of the court, received much praise from her coach following the match:
“Natalia came as a very pleasant surprise to the team last year during the tryouts” recollected coach Nabil Tadros, “While she was warming up, I could tell she would be a great player and she proved herself as an undefeated second seed player during the 2006-07 season. She is now our number one seed and I hope she continues to remain undefeated.”
Even though the team has a winning record, it has not been all smooth sailing. “We have a strong team, but we also have had many close matches and there is definitely more pressure to win,” said Blues player Ekaterina Alchits. “This season has been a lot more challenging for us, but it is also exciting that we have solid competition in the OUA. We just have to be on our best game during the championships.”
The Blues turned it around during their afternoon encounter with McMaster University, walking away with a 4-3 victory. Natalia Lech, Ekaterina Alchits, and Roxana Soica swept their opponents in straight sets, but three other Blues players struggled to close out their matches. Chrisitna Dykun fought a hard battle, but fell to her Marauder opponent. Rookie Aisha Bhimla seemed exhausted after an intense second set tie-break, and despite fighting back in the third set, was unable to capture the win. The Blues were able to win without one of their key players, rookie Maia Kirk, who was unable to play due to a wrist injury, but they will need all hands on deck when the OUA championship begins October 12 at York University if they hope to repeat as champions.
